Monday, April 30, 2007

An End of the Semester Little Self-Aggrandizement Corner

I just dismissed my last Barnard course, let them fill out evaluations, and had the penultimate sit here in my Barnard office. And I just discovered that one of my students had kept a record called "Quotable Karl (& Less Quotable Karl)," which she deposited in my mailbox. Here are the quotes:

On Switzerland: "You can see it in Goldfinger"*

On college-level spelling courses: "Oh, you mean without beer."

On the discursive construct of cannibalism** in Heart of Darkness: "Like you're on a ship that's being piloted by a burrito."

On pedagogy: "I'm just saying words."

On student discussion: "Gold stars for everyone!"

On his sentence: "No, that's stupid."

On contributing to society: "It's probably better -- for the world -- if I don't talk more."

On himself: "I'm full of deepness."

On domestic violence and Hurston: "I believe the word is 'blow,' not 'girly slap.'"***

--Notes by the object of study:* Frankenstein discussion.** I love it when my students--my Freshmen!--start talking like this.*** In correcting a student's misapprehension of Janie's violence in hitting Tea Cake in Their Eyes Were Watching God

==I should also say that my students have parodied me to my face. They're especially fond of my use of the word "fantastic" as an all-purpose modifier for books I like. This happen to anyone else?

I just have to share this one, which some of you have probably heard before. A prominent Chaucer scholar at my school, who tries to "resist seeming definitive in order to encourage student thinking" received this comment from a student: "Professor X is such a nice guy. It's a pity he doesn't know more about Chaucer."

Karl, this is exactly the kind of list that passes through my mind after every class I teach. How nice to have someone else do it for you. I trust the Brooklyn College students will be similarly inspired. A preview of their genius: "Although I am no knight, I am a person dealing with my own nature everyday" (after reading SGGK).